Ohio man charged in courthouse bomb threat probe

CLEVELAND — An Ohio man charged in the investigation into dozens of bomb threats made to courthouses and other public buildings in five states late last year waived a bond hearing Thursday and was ordered locked up.

The FBI arrested 39-year-old Lonny Bristow of Mansfield on Wednesday in the Mansfield area.

One of those bomb threats was called into Yamhill County Clerk's office the afternoon of November 23rd, 2012 resulting in the evacuation of all county buildings for 45 minutes as they were searched for potential threats.

Nothing suspicious was found.

He had an initial court appearance Thursday in U.S. District Court in Cleveland and waived a bond hearing. Bristow agreed to be held without bond while his case is pending, his public defender, Carolyn Kucharski, said in an email.

Bristow was initially charged with a single count of making a bomb threat by phone.

The FBI said Bristow was arrested in the investigation of bomb threats made in November and December to courthouses and public buildings in Nebraska, Washington, Oregon, Tennessee and Mississippi.

There was no immediate indication of a possible motive.

An FBI agent's affidavit filed with the court said investigators traced numerous bomb threats to prepaid phone cards purchased at a Wal-Mart in Upper Sandusky, located about 40 miles west of Mansfield.

Although the lawsuits were usually tossed out of court, they added up to thousands of dollars in attorney fees, the newspaper reported.

The paper also reported that Bristow also was the first inmate in Ohio to have his mail privileges revoked. He received a 13-year prison sentence for theft, retaliation, aiding an escape, harassment by an inmate and telephone harassment.

Stephen Anthony, head of the FBI in northern Ohio, said the bomb threats had induced panic for hundreds of people. He called the threats “reckless and malicious.”